Reading my blog you will now have understood how Rome is also the city of fountains, from monumental ones such as the Trevi Fountain (with attached curiosities, like this one), to the particular Fontana dei Libri. There are some which unfortunately have fallen somewhat into oblivion, despite having been a point of reference for the local community for centuries. Today, your tour guide in Rome will tell you about the Acqua Acetosa Fountain and its troubled history.

We are in the Tor di Quinto area, not far from the Flaminia, where this historic, but partly unfortunate, fountain stands. The name of the Acetosa Water Fountain comes, pleasantly, from the figure of the aquacetosaro, that is, the person who used a cart to transport vases and containers full of this water, ready to resell it. It recalls, very closely, the protagonist sculpted in the Via del Corso area, protagonist of the so-called Fontana del Facchino. Why so much trouble? Why go out of our way to transport water from one part of the city to another? Because since the 16th century it has been thought that the water that flowed from this fountain, coming from a very specific source, had almost thaumaturgical properties, so much so that it would be capable of soothing kidney pain and more. Even pope Paul V Borghese had a monumental fountain built in 1613, commissioning the work from his favorite architect, Giovanni Vasanzio. Not satisfied, the Pope in question also had a marble inscription added with the writing "Renibus et stomacho spleni iecorique medetur/mille malis prodet ista salubris aqua", whose translation is "This healthy water cures the kidneys, the stomach, the liver, spleen and helps a thousand other ailments". Not bad really! Subsequently Andrea Sacchi, but perhaps even Bernini, took care of modernizing the fountain, enlarging it and inserting new decorative motifs, by order of other pontiffs following Borghese pope. It is a shame, therefore, that this fountain with therapeutic properties was closed in 1959, due to the pollution of the underground aquifers. For years it was abandoned to itself, and only recently a restoration project has partially brought it back to its former glory.

Therefore we understand how, in a historic and secular city like Rome, even a simple spring can be monumentalised, in every sense. After all, the ancient Romans themselves used to personify water sources, which were very important for the sustenance of the community, especially at the origins. We should not be surprised if even a famous pope, like Paul V, did so much to do justice, in some way, to a source not only of water, but also of well-being. A tradition that went on for a very long time, even though the memory of Acqua Acetosa was somewhat lost.